As cars have been continuously updated to include new and useful features for the enjoyment and/or utility of a driver and his or her passengers, devices generally found in the home have made their way into cars as optional features. Such features include the television, the video cassette recorder (VCR), the compact disk (CD) player, and the digital video disk (DVD) player. While these features undoubtedly provide enjoyment and/or utility to the driver and passengers of a vehicle, the features are nonetheless troublesome to install and implement in a car. For example, if the items are not factory installed, then a user must generally go to an installation shop and have the items installed into their vehicle. The installation involves wiring the devices to the vehicle to receive power therefrom, as well as coupling the devices to other existing systems of the vehicle other than the power system. For example, a vehicle owner may want a car mounted television to be coupled to the existing speaker system so that passengers in the back of the vehicle (as well as any passengers in the front of the vehicle) can hear the corresponding audio.
Given the small confines of many vehicles, it may not be easy to integrate new equipment into the vehicle. Moreover, the installation process itself may result in structural damage to the vehicle when an installer improperly dismantles and/or reassembles portions of the vehicle. This is particularly true for the wiring, which often has to run from the front of the car (where the fuse bus and battery are located) to the middle and/or rear of the car.
With respect to overhead console mounted electronics, the above problems are compounded. This is due to a variety of reasons, including the fact that the overhead console is generally of limited space, and also because whatever space exists is generally overrun with wiring from existing devices such as reading lights, garage door openers, thermometers, and so forth. Further, the console, in being overhead, must be re-assembled carefully to avoid coming apart at an importune moment and potentially impeding the vision and/or concentration of the vehicle operator.
Thus, in the case of an overhead console having a television disposed therein, difficulties exist in wiring input devices (e.g., VCR) to the television as well as in wiring output devices (speakers) to the television.
Accordingly, there is a need for a console which allows for the minimum effort in installation in the vehicle, particularly with respect to wiring. Such a console could be preferably mounted overhead, or on any other interior surface of the vehicle.